Marrone: Manuel '100 miles an hour'

Doug Marrone doesn't sound like a man entirely convinced he will be the first head coach in the modern era to trot an undrafted rookie quarterback out on the field in Week 1 of a season.

The Buffalo Bills head coach said rookie first-round pick EJ Manuel is "100 miles an hour" as he diligently works to recover from minor knee surgery in hopes of playing against New England on Sept. 8.

"He's coming back and he's doing everything he can," Marrone said Tuesday. "He's progressing, I believe it's seven or eight days after the procedure and he's 100 miles an hour right now."

Those comments came a day after Marrone said the team is preparing as though undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel will start against the Patriots.

Matt Leinart and Thad Lewis, who were acquired Sunday, are expected to see time in the Bills' preseason finale Thursday.

"We're just trying to make sure the things that they're comfortable with," said Marrone. "They've expressed that they're comfortable with some of the schematics that we run; obviously they've done them before, so we just want to pick the right ones that they feel comfortable with and then watch them really play and see how he performs out there."

--Marrone said cornerback Stephon Gilmore underwent surgery on his fractured wrist without any complications. Gilmore is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.